IN OUR GARAGE

Springing Into Action

Ever since we’ve had her, I’ve showered Deux Smurf, our 1996 KZN-185 Toyota Surf with nothing but praise. We bought her in January 2016 for £3,500 with 166,861 miles on the clock, and since then we’ve covered a further 22,000 miles and spent a meagre £300 on essential parts like a new back exhaust, battery, belts and 4 pairs of wiper blades, and of course servicing.

If there’s just one thing I would change about her it would be ride quality. I don’t know what suspension package she’s fitted with, but it’s like she’s on rails driving around corners, as good as any other modern 4x4 I’ve driven I’d say, but over potholes and bad surfaces she’s dreadful.

It’s not like they’re worn out, but hit a hole at any speed and she bangs and crashes all over the place, even badly rutted green-lanes can be tiresome and a bit painful, so I decided to look into replacing her solid, and probably ageing suspension, but with what?

What would give me a comfortable on-road experience yet still offer a decent off-road ride with a good amount of flex? I asked the question on both the Australian and UK Surf Facebook pages, and by an overwhelming majority it was the same name that cropped up time and time again, Pedders. Comments like; Unbelievable ride quality, best decision ever and, well, you get the idea. So who are Pedders?

Pedders Suspension are Australia's No1 suspension and steering parts manufacturer (can you tell I got that from their website?) Setup in 1950 by Roy Pedder to recondition shock absorbers, it’s grown to become a global company.

the European market which includes springs, torsion bars, dampers, suspension bushes, brakes and steering components, as well as a large number of 'problem solver' components for a huge range of vehicles

After a good chat with Roger, we gleaned that I already had +1 ” suspension on Deux Smurf, so I ordered the same.

The following day a couple of heavy boxes arrived with their TrakRyder shocks for the front and standard for the rear as we don’t tow or carry anything that heavy.

Two months after the kit arrived it was still sat in the living room at Muddy Towers, much to the dismay of Muddy Madam, so when Deux Smurf went in the garage for a bit of work I asked Steve to swap the suspension whilst he was at it.

By all accounts it was an absolute pain of a job!

The Pedders kit was fine, the problem was removing the old suspension, especially the rear shocks which he ended up cutting in half! Anyway, we’ll gloss over that bit and go straight into what a massive improvement it’s made.

After picking her up I drove straight to a local green-lane, and during the 4 mile drive to the lane I had already concluded that everyones recommendations was justified. Her on-road ride, although still a little stiff, was much nicer, she no longer skipped and jumped over pot-holes, and her steering was much sharper, too.

Arriving at the green-lane, the irregular stone surface would have normally rattled my teeth out, but the TrakRyders smoothed out the rough surface. Deux Smurf flexed better, too, which keeps her BFG KM3s firmly on the ground offering me plenty of traction.

They were only fitted for a few days before this issue was due to be published so I’m waiting for them to settle in, but so far I’m really impressed, the Pedders suspension has proved a worthy investment, and I know it’s bit of a cliche, but they’ve totally transformed Deux Smurf into what is now a 4x4 worthy of her stature; a comfortable cruiser and great off-roader.

Over the next couple of months we have quite a few green-laning trips planned and plenty of road miles, so I’ll keep you updated on our progress.